ALL FLIERS — frequent and non-frequent — should celebrate the arrival of JetBlue, which began service Thursday out of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.

So should area residents who prefer traveling by car or bus.

This is one time when genuine bi-state cooperation between Georgia and South Carolina paid off.

The mood at the airport was rightly upbeat after the inaugural flight out of New York’s JFK International Airport landed here Thursday morning. It marked the successful finish to a lot of hard work — and the beginning of what should be a beneficial relationship.

Studies have shown that the Savannah-Hilton Head airport is one of the priciest in the country, thanks to the lack of a low-cost carrier here.

JetBlue is expected to change that unhappy equation. And that’s not just good news for people who live here. It’s good news for people who want to visit or book conventions here.

Over the near term, passengers who fly between Savannah-Hilton Head and the Northeast should be smiling all the way to the bank. A quick check Thursday on the lowest cost of a round-trip ticket to and from New York on JetBlue (two weeks from now) was $150. On Delta, the lowest price was $190.

Over the long term, the hope is that JetBlue would expand the number of Savannah-Hilton Head flights and give passengers more travel options — and lower ticket prices, thanks to more competition.

And the benefits extend to both sides of the Savannah River.

Airport Executive Director Greg Kelly singled out the significant demand for service through Savannah for the South Carolina Lowcountry, particularly Hilton Head and Bluffton. He said South Carolina accounts for almost 50 percent of the traffic. “We are truly a regional airport,” Mr. Kelly said.

It’s appropriate that Hilton Head Mayor Drew Laughlin and Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Miles were part to the local delegation that flew to New York, along with Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson, and were aboard the first JetBlue plane to land here.

This success was a team effort. But it shouldn’t begin and end at the airport. The experience of landing JetBlue should encourage more political and business leaders on both sides of the state line to shed outdated parochial viewpoints and think regionally when it comes to mutually beneficial economic development and job growth.

The Savannah River should be a uniter. Not a divider. Like the Savannah-Hilton Head airport, the sky should be the limit.